Glimpses of Greatness

Anyone who knows me knows how much I absolutely love a good race. Last weekend was no exception at the running of the annual Jenni Evans road race. Pink Princess fielded three of its best at this years race and they were AWESOME. Mikayla was first back, and as I said, "she crossed the line like she was in a car." She looked like she had just run a 100 yard dash as she completed her 3.2 mile run. The kid is a great runner Not to be outdone by his sister, Tanner came by about a minute or two later, smiling and waving as he ran by Sylvia and I on his way to the finish line. (Sylvia sat this event out due to a sore foot in hopes of nursing it back to health for the Black Squirrel 5k next month in Glendale.) A few minutes later, around the bend and up the hill came a hard charging Maura, running with all her strength towards a very impressive top 5 finish. What was the true beauty of Maura's run that day was that a couple of days prior to the race she had a very poor training run at Winton Woods which left her a little discouraged, This in mind, after she had such a good strong finish her smile was beaming and her overflowing happiness was an absolute joy to witness as well as be part of. So once again I say " Atta - girl Sis I couldn't be prouder of you. Once again you stood up to your challenge, and totally destroyed it. That thought in mind I just want to touch upon a moment in time that changed me. This didn't even involve our team. After Sylvia and our team left to go to the starting line, I went to find a place to sit while I waited for Syl to come and rejoin me for the finish of the race. I came across a young man, I would say he was in his early to mid twenties. He had a learning disability and wore braces on both of his knees, making his stride slow and quite awkward. Oh, did I say that he was also wearing a runners number bib? HE WAS A RACE ENTERANT. Although he was short in stature, he was giant in my eyes. I will never forget what I thought was superhuman bravery in this one lone individual. As I came to him I commended his courage for entering the race. He thanked me and asked me if I knew where the starting line was. He then left to go start the race. I never heard how he finished or even saw him again on Saturday, and I will more than likely not see him again, but I think now that every time I don't want to work out or walk that extra 10th the image of this one person is going to be with me. If there is one thing that this brief encounter said to me, It would be "Stop whining and do it ." or maybe "You have no reason to complain."